Canadian rapper and singer Aubrey Drake Graham, popularly known as Drake, has been honored with the Artist of the Decade award at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards for his musical domination throughout the 2010s.
Accepting the honor alongside his 3-year-old son, the 34-year-old singer, who also doubles as an actor, said that he has been self-conscious about his music. According to him, he continues to search for new ways on how he can improve his craft.
"I wanna dedicate this award to my friends, to my longtime collaborators ... to my beautiful family, and to you. I'm really self-conscious about my music, and even if I do a good job, I always wonder how I could have done it better," he said.
Revealing a little-known side of him, the father of one said that he rarely celebrates anything. Drake also encouraged those who look up to him to continue perfecting their crafts with the hopes of figuring out the formula along the way.
"I rarely ever celebrate anything. And just for anyone watching this wondering how this happened, that's really the answer -- it's so unsure how you're getting it done that you just kinda keep going in the hopes of figuring out the formula," he added.
Through his acceptance speech, Drake seized the opportunity to reassure up-and-coming artists that even the most successful singers worry about the quality of their songs.
Drake accepts his Billboard Music Awards #BBMAs Artist of the Decade award with his Adonis ???? pic.twitter.com/lp3Ep0SjjP — GMR FM (@Gmr_fm) May 25, 2021
"I know I've spent an incalculable amount of hours trying to analyze all the things that I've did wrong, but tonight for once, I'm sure as hell we did something right," he said.
He further admitted that he sometimes does not understand himself, assuring young people to focus on what they do and give it their best.
"I didn't really write a grandiose speech about how to make it work or what it took, 'cause you know, to be really honest with you I don't quite understand it myself," he confessed.
In addition to his Artist of the Decade trophy, Drake was up for several awards at the BMAs. He was nominated for Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Streaming Song ("Life Is Good"), and Top Rap Artist.
In March 2021, Drake became the first artist to have three songs debut in the Top 3 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart after dropping his project Scary Hours 2, which included his three songs — "What's Next," "Wants and Needs" with Lil Baby and "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" with Rick Ross.
